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Women's Basketball ACCtion: Tuesday, December 28

The No. 18/20 Maryland women's basketball team beat La Salle 83-45 Tuesday afternoon in the opening game of the Terrapin Classic for its tenth straight win.

The Terrapins, the top rebounding team in the country, dominated the inside game, outscoring the Explorers 52-10 in the paint and outrebounding them 51-36.

The Terrapins (11-1) led 12-0 and 34-9 in the first half against the overmatched Explorers (4-7). Maryland will play No. 17/17 St. John's Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. in the championship game of the Terrapin Classic.

Junior Lynetta Kizer scored 10 of her 15 points in the opening eight minutes. Freshman forward Alyssa Thomas scored 14 points for Maryland, her ninth successive game in double figures, and Diandra Tchatchouang added 11. She reached the 500-point plateau in the game.

The No. 10 Tar Heels rolled to a comfortable 75-49 victory over the College of Charleston on Tuesday.

Waltiea Rolle scored 15 points and Jessica Breland had 14 points for North Carolina (12-0), which never trailed. The Tar Heels led just 10-6 after six minutes before forward Laura Broomfield dominated the offensive glass while scoring seven of her 10 points and helping North Carolina take a 20-8 lead.

UNC went on a 16-0 run late in the first half and led by 23 at halftime. Breland, who had nine rebounds with four assists and three blocks, scored eight of the Tar Heels' 16 points.

The Tar Heels shot 38.5 percent from the field and scored 12 points below their season average in their first game back after a nine-day break.

Virginia defeated North Carolina A&T, 88-59, Tuesday night in the opening round of the 2010 Marriott Cavalier Classic at John Paul Jones Arena. With the victory, the Cavaliers advance to the championship game of the tournament and will face East Tennessee State on Wednesday (Dec. 29) at 7 p.m.

With the victory over the Aggies, the Cavaliers remained unbeaten in John Paul Jones Arena this season (6-0) and improved their overall record to 8-5. UVa is seeking its eighth-consecutive Marriott Cavalier Classic team title.

Virginia freshman Jazmin Pitts (Mosely, Va.) scored a career-high 17 points in her first-career start. Pitts was 7-for-10 from the field and also grabbed four rebounds.

Junior forward Chelsea Shine (Wayne, Pa.) was the other Cavalier that scored in double figures, as she finished with 14 points and five rebounds.

The Georgia Tech women's basketball team opened its contest against Mercer looking like it was still full from Christmas dinner, but the Jackets quickly snapped out of it and went on to rout the Mercer Bears, 101-44, Tuesday night at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

Tech won its seventh straight game and improved to 10-4 on the season, while Mercer dropped its fifth straight outing and fell to 1-10 on the season.

After limiting Washington to only nine second half points in its last game, Tech held Mercer without a field goal from the 0:57 mark of the first half until just 8:54 remained in the game, a span of 12:03 during which span the Jackets went on a 32-0 run.

Freshman Tyaunna Marshall led four Yellow Jackets in double figures with a career-best 25 points on 12-of-16 shooting in only 19 minutes. Senior Deja Foster notched her fifth career double-double and first of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Cierra Bravard's two free throws with 30 seconds left lifted No. 25 Florida State to a 74-72 victory over Florida on Tuesday.

Bravard, Florida State's scoring leader, finished with 10 points. Her 3-point play less than a minute earlier gave the Seminoles (10-3) a short-lived 71-70 lead. Jaterra Bonds driving jumper gave the Gators a 72-71 lead.

Courtney Ward scored 20 points, including a final free throw with a tenth of a second left, and freshman Natasha Howard added 17 points and 10 rebounds for her second career double-double for the Seminoles, who narrowly avoided losing three straight games for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

After a week off for its Holiday Break, the University of Miami women's basketball team returned to the court and its winning ways with an 83-62 victory over George Washington in the first day of the Miami Holiday Classic.

The Atlantic Coast Conference's reigning player of the week and leading scorer Riquna Williams found herself in foul trouble early and had to watch most of the opening period from the sidelines. However, the `Canes had an All-America candidate to pick up the scoring slack.

Junior Shenise Johnson took control, scoring 17 of her game-high 19 points in the opening period. The Henrietta, N.Y. native connected on 7-of-11 field goal attempts in the half and helped the `Canes keep George Washington at arm's length as Miami headed into the locker room with a 38-31 lead.

Johnson reached double-figures for the 50th consecutive game - the longest active streak among ACC players.

Miami's lead grew to as much as 26 points in the second period as Williams returned to the lineup, finishing with 17 points. The Pahokee, Fla. native hit a game-high four three-pointers on the night.